Europe News

Swedish law enforcement has stepped up its offensive against unauthorized financial intermediaries, warning that anyone acting as an illegal money transmitter risks long prison terms and the seizure of their assets. Criminal networks are increasingly leaning on loose, decentralized webs of willing or coerced individuals to move dirty money across borders while steering clear of regulated banks. The funds being shuffled through these channels often bankroll major criminal acti

Denmark has formally submitted proposed new controls on gambling advertising to the European Commission for scrutiny, as part of an effort to expand the regulatory and enforcement powers of the country’s gambling watchdog.   On 13 January, Spillemyndigheden, Denmark’s Gambling Authority, filed a notification with the European Commission’s Technical Regulation Information System (TRIS), triggering the EU’s mandatory review procedure for draft technical regulations. The process

The European Union has acknowledged the substantial progress achieved by South African institutions in closing long-standing gaps within the country’s financial and regulatory framework, following a period of close international scrutiny in which the jurisdiction worked to bring its domestic laws into line with the global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force. Through the introduction of stronger oversight structures and greater transparency around beneficial owner

The Finnish Parliament has approved the Government’s proposal for a new Gambling Act, marking a significant shift in the country’s gaming landscape. Under the reform, Veikkaus’ exclusive right to offer gambling services will end for betting games as well as online slot machine and casino games in the summer of 2027. The company will, however, retain its monopoly on lottery games, scratch cards, and physical slot machines and casino games. Gambling companies will be able to ap

For much of the past year, Europe’s gambling watchdogs have been fixated on two familiar adversaries: rising taxes and the black market. The higher levies introduced across several jurisdictions in 2025 were designed to raise public revenues and curb excessive gambling, while tougher enforcement was meant to drive illegal operators out of the shadows. Yet the headlines that followed painted a far more complicated picture. Licensed companies complained that their margins were

The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier has imposed an administrative fine of €185,000 on Rakuten Europe Bank S.A. after identifying serious shortcomings in the institution’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls. The decision was formally adopted on May 19, 2025, and made public on the regulator’s website in early 2026. The sanction corresponds to approximately one percent of the bank’s annual turnover as reported at the end of the 2022 f

Inflation in the eurozone returned to the European Central Bank’s 2% target in December, offering reassurance to policymakers as price pressures continue to ease. Eurozone inflation fell to 2% in December, meeting the ECB’s price stability goal and reinforcing indications that the sharp surge in prices seen over recent years is gradually fading. Flash estimates published by Eurostat on Wednesday showed that the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed from 2.1% in November

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Union’s financial markets regulator and supervisory authority, has announced the launch of the first selection procedure for a Consolidated Tape Provider covering over-the-counter derivatives, a move designed to strengthen transparency and efficiency across European financial markets. The initiative marks a significant step in the implementation of the EU’s post-trade transparency framework and is intended to